Guy wire protector



M r h 24, 9 B. M. SMALLEY ET AL GUY WIRE PROTECTOR Filed Dec. 21, 1932.

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Patented Mar. 24, 1936 UNITED GUY WIRE PROTECTOR Application December 21, 1932, Serial No. 648,174

7 Claims.

The present invention relates to guy wire protectors.

Guy wire protectors are generally of either the half round type, wherein no attempt is made to 5. completely enclose the guy rod eye and guy clamp to safeguard the public, or the all-around type which completely encloses the guy rod eye and clamp and does not present any sharp surface which might cut or otherwise injure a pedestrian walking into it unawares. The half round type of protector is more economical than the allaround type, but it does not afiord the protection given by the all-around type. It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a guy wire protector which will afford the advantages of the all-around type of protector at a price comparable with that of the half round type of protector. To accomplish this it is obviously necessary to reduce theamount of material used in each protector. A relatively large girth is needed at the lower end in order that the protector be of such size that it will easily slide over the guy clamps and guy rod eye and enclose them. At its upper end the protector encloses only a small guy wire which at the most is only about one-half inch in diameter. The protector need only be large enough to give good visibility from the side. At its lower end the protector must not only give good visibility from the side but it must also be of sufficient width to enclose the guy rod eye and guy clamps. By making an all-around guy wire protector which is tapered, large at the lower end where it will completely conceal the guy rod and guy clamp, and narrow at the upper end, it is possible to so cut the material out of standard sheet metal that a considerable saving in material may be obtained, thereby making the all-around protector, which is more desirable than the semicircular type, available at more nearly the price of the semi-circular type.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a guy wire protector having improved means for securing it in place. It is desirable to so secure the protector in place that it will not come loose and permit its rotation from its normal position. This is best done by tightening the protector to the guy rod itself, which is firmly embedded in the earth and provides a large diameter for a more rigid fastening. The guy rod generally has an enlarged eye at its end for connection with the guy wire, and if the guy protector is to be secured to the guy rod. it is therefore necessaryto provide a clamp which will fill in the space between the protector and the shank of the guy rod. It is one of the objects of the present invention to so mount the clamp as not to interfere with the sliding of the protector over the guy clamp and guy rod eye during installation. We accomplish the above result by mounting the clamp and the clamping means to swing as a unit from a position on the outside of the protector to a position on the inside of the protector. While the protector is being mounted in place and being slid along the guy wire the clamp and. clamping strap are swung on the outside of the protector thereby offering no interference to the sliding of the protector. After the protector is brought into its proper position the clamp and clamp-ing strap are swung into the protector and are manipulated to clamp the protector in place.

The attainment of the above and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side view of my protector mounted in position;

Figure 2 is a view of a sheet of sheet metal from which our improved protector is bent, said View showing the way in which two protectors are cut from a sheet to avoid wastage.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 44 of Figure 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 5 is an enlarged View of the lower end of the protector and showing the manner of attaching the same to the guy rod;

Figure 6 is a top view of the end of theprotector showing the clamping means swung into position above the protector and out of the way of a guy wire; and

Figure '7 is a view corresponding to Figure 4 and showing a modified construction.

Reference may now be had more particularly to Figiu'e 1. I represents a guy wire for any purpose, such as for steadying a telephone pole or the like, said wire being secured at its upper end to the pole or other structure that is being steadied. At its lower end the guy wire is fastened to a guy rod 2 the lower end of which is anchored in the ground. At one end the guy rod 2 is provided with an eye 3 through which the lower end of the guy wire I is looped, the looped end of the guy wire being then secured to the guy wire itself by means of a clamp 4, all in a manner well known in the art.

The guy wire protector is formed of sheet metal which is cut to the shape indicated at 5 in Figure 2. It is to be noted that the material is appreciably wider at the end indicated at 6 than it is at its opposite end indicated at 1. We have shown in Figure 2 a second piece of material 5 for forming a second guy wire protector thereby indicating the manner of cutting the sheet metal so as to produce a minimum of wastage. The wide end 6 of the sheet metal is provided with a pair of slots 88 adjacent one end thereof for a purpose which will be apparent as the description proceeds. The edges of the sheet metal are then beaded over as indicated at 99, thereby removing all sharp corners. The metal is then bent into the desired shape as indicated in Figures 1, 3 and 4. It is to be noted that there is a space between the two ends of the bent material, said space comprising a longitudinally extending slot In. It is further to be noted that the protector is of appreciably less width at its upper end than it is at its lower end. This is necessary because the upper end of the material is the narrow end 1. By making the protector of less width at the upper end, the height thereof at that end is increased. Since it is the height across the protector that determines the degree of side visibility it is apparent that by the present arrangement there is obtained a high degree of side visibility from a small amount of material. The upper edge of the protector may be cut away as indicated at l2 to facilitate the clamping of the protector to a guy wire by means of any suitable clamping means. The lower end is also cut away for a similar purpose.

A U-bolt l 5 is hinged to the outside of the protector adjacent one end thereof, this bolt being held in position by means of a strap I I that is welded or otherwise suitably secured to the end of the protector, said strap merely holding the U-bolt against withdrawal but permitting a swinging thereof. A clamp piece is slidably mounted on the legs of the U-bolt, said piece comprising an integral piece of metal bent to form a pair of arms l 6-! 6 connected by a bridge portion l1 from which extend a pair of ears I8l8 having. therein a pair of holes through which the legs of the U-bolt slide. The arms Iii-l6 are V-shaped at their lower ends, as indicated at l9, to seat on the shank of the guy rod 2. The legs of the U-bolt are threaded. A clamping strap is slidable along the U-bolt, said clamping strap being provided with a hole through which one leg of the U-bolt extends and being provided with a slot 22 through which the other leg of the U-bolt extends.

To mount the guy wire protector in place the U-bolt is swung into a position on the outside of and above the protector as indicated in Figure 6. This includes also the clamp piece and the strap 20. The protector is then placed on the guy wire at a point appreciably above the clamp 4- and is lowered on the guy wire so that the wire passes through the longitudinally extending slot I0 whereby the protector substantially embraces the guy wire. The protector is then slid downward along the guy wire until the lower end thereof passes over the clamp 4 and over the eye 3 of the rod 2 and rides over the shank of the rod. The strap 29 is then swung about one leg of the U-bolt so that the slot 22 thereof disengages the other leg of the bolt. The U-bolt and with it the strap 20 and clamp piece is then swung beneath the protector, the legs of thebolt passing through the slots 88'in the end of the protector. The clamp piece is then moved into a position such as is shown more clearly in Figure 5 with the arms thereof resting on the shank of the guy rod 2. The strap 20 is then brought into a position such that the slot 22 thereof embraces the corresponding leg of the U-bolt and the entire assembly is then tightly clamped in position by tightening on the nuts -25. This completely mounts the lower end of the guy wire protector. The upper end of the guy wire protector may be clamped to the guy wire I in any desired manner, as for instance by means of a U-bolt 30 and a clamping strap 32, although any other preferred means may be used for securing the upper end of the guy wire protector to the guy wire. In Figure 7 we show an alternate clamping means for the upper end of the protector, said clamping means comprising a carriage bolt and washer 4| for clamping the upper end of the protector to the guy wire.

In compliance with the requirements of the patent statutes we have herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of our invention. It is however to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangement herein shown, the same being merely illustrative of the principles of the invention.

What we consider new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A guy wire protector formed of a compara-- tively long narrow sheet of metal substantially narrower at one end than at the other and tapered from the wide end to the narrow end and having a pair of longitudinally extending slots at one end thereof, a U-bolt swiveled on the outer side of the protector adjacent said slots with the legs of the bolt swingable through the slots to the inner side of the protector, and means cooperating with the legs of the U-bolt for securing the end of the protector to an anchor rod.

2. A guy wire protector comprising an elongated body having a pair of longitudinally extending slots at one end thereof, a U-bolt swiveled on the outer side of the protector adjacent said slots with the legs of the bolt swingable through the slotsoperating with the legs of the U-bolt for securing the lower end of the protector to a guy rod, said last means comprising a clamp piece slidably mounted on the U-bolt and swingable therewith from a position on the outer side of the protector to a position on the inner side thereof. 7

4. A guy wire protector adapted to fit over a guy wire and guy rod, a clamp piece on the inside of the protector'adjacent an end thereof for spacing the end of the protector from a guy rod, and a U-bolt pivotally secure-d to the outside of the protector adjacent said end thereof and extending into the protector and cooperating with the clamp piece to clamp the protector in place, said clamp piece being carried by the U-bolt and being swingable therewith from a position within the protector to a position on the outside thereof.

5. A guy wire protector adapted to substantially encompass a guy wire and having a longitudinally extending slotat the bottom thereof for positioning the same over a guy-wire, the trans-' verse periphery at the upper end of the protector being substantially less than the transverse periphery of the lower end thereof and gradually increasing from the upper end towards the lower end, the upper end being substantially flatter sideways than the lower end for increasing the lateral visibility of the upper end per unit transverse peripheral length.

6. A guy wire protector adapted to substantially encompass a guy wire and having a longitudinally extending slot at the bottom thereof for positioning the same over a guy wire, the transverse periphery at the upper end of the protector being substantially less than the transverse periphery of the lower end thereof and gradually increasing from the upper end towards the lower end, the upper end being substantially flatter sideways than the lower end for increasing the lateral visibility of the upper end per unit transverse peripheral length, and means for clamping the lower end of the protector to a guy rod, said means including a clamp pivoted on the protector and swingable from a position within the same to a position on the outside thereof out of interference with the guy rod and guy wire connection during sliding of the protector into position, and thereafter swingable into the protector and between the protector and a guy rod.

7. A guy wire protector adapted to substantially encompass a guy wire and having a longitudinally extending slot at the bottom thereof for positioning the same over a guy Wire, the transverse periphery at the upper end of the protector being substantially less than the transverse periphery of the lower end thereof and gradually increasing from the upper end towards the lower end, the upper end being substantially flatter sideways than the lower end for increasing the lateral visibility of the upper end per unit transverse peripheral length, the protector being substantially free of sharp corners along the sides thereof, and the edges of the material adjacent the slot being beaded over.

BURTON M. SMALLEY. GEORGE F. HAUF. 

